best before date
Millions of masks will probably go to waste incineration
A passer-by carries an FFP2 mask in her hand. Hundreds of millions of unused masks now have to be disposed of by the federal government. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
Former Health Minister Spahn ordered a large number of masks at the beginning of the pandemic. The best before date has now passed. That means they have to be thrown away.
Millions of protective masks purchased by the federal government could soon end up in waste incineration. As a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Health confirmed on Friday, around 730 million surgical and around 60 million FFP2 or similar masks have reached the best-before date. If the masks are not or no longer marketable, “thermal recycling” is planned, in particular to ensure health protection. Preparations, for example tenders, for the first thermal utilization were underway. The “Spiegel” had first reported about it.
The Federal Ministry of Health and the then Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) bought several billion masks at the beginning of the corona pandemic in spring 2020. The Federal Court of Auditors later reprimanded a “massive overprocurement”. According to the authority, a total of 5.8 billion masks and expenditure of 6.3 billion euros were involved.
Spiegel post